Our latest Classic Of The Week is a stunner. Image by Markus Unger – Creative Commons

We round-up the last week in music, including news you might’ve missed, our #SongOfTheDay playlist and Classic Of The Week

Folks we’ll level with you here, the last seven days in the world of Team Songwriting have been taken up by one major and exciting event. No, not the cinematic release of Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (though we are very excited about seeing this J. K. Rowling penned gem). That event is of course the latest edition of our app. It’ll be out at the beginning of December and we’ve spent every waking (and some non-waking) hour we have working on this app.

We know that you’re dying to find out who’ll be on the cover of the latest Songwriting Magazine app but tough, you’ll just have to wait until it’s out. Suffice to say, though, you’ll be delighted with who we’ve selected.

Classic Of The Week

‘4st 7lb’ by Manic Street Preachers (1994)

We could have picked any song from The Manics astonishing third album The Holy Bible. This track, though, contains the record’s most brutally poetic and terrifyingly stark lyrics, with Richey Edwards taking the subject of a teenage girl’s struggle with anorexia to describe his own battle with the disease. Alongside this is a gothic-grunge riff of timeless brilliance that’ll have you hooked from the outset. If this is the first time you’re hearing 4st 7lb then you’re in for a real treat.

News this week

Bruce Springsteen and Diana Ross are among this year’s recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the USA’s highest civilian honour. They’l pick up their gongs at the White House on 22 November.

With a five-disc Deluxe Edition of My Generation landing in stores, Pete Townshend has been discussing the album’s writing and recording, telling Rolling Stone that the iconic title track started life as “a real Mose Allison rip… I loved everything he did.”

Liam Gallagher’s also been discussing his songwriting this week, although it’s clearly not a subject that’s particularly close to his heart: he told The Daily Star that, “I’m not arsed about writing songs – you do it because you have to”.

The HBO movie based on Green Day’s American Idiot is apparently coming together nicely… Billie Joe Armstrong told the NME this week that it’s going to be “more surreal” than the stage musical and “will be shocking in a way that makes you think”.

Country veteran Crystal Gayle is be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on 21 January. We’re not sure why it took this long, but the induction ceremony will be hosted by Loretta Lynn – otherwise known as Gayle’s older sister.